Influence Sphere Assets
The following are house rules for Merits that can be associated with an Influence Sphere. An individual Influence Sphere will have one Status ••••• slot, three Status •••• slots, five Status ••• slots, an unlimited number of Status •• and an unlimited number of Status • slots. ''Allies (• to •••••) Allies help your character. They might be friends, employees, associates, or people your character has blackmailed. Each dot represents a layer of influence in the group. One dot would constitute small favors and passing influence. Three could offer considerable influence, such as the overlooking of a misdemeanor charge by the police. Five dots allows favors that stretch the limits of the organization’s influence, as its leaders put their own influence on the line for the character. This could include things such as ignoring massive insider trading or fouling up a felony investigation. No matter the request, it has to be something that organization could accomplish. The Storyteller assigns a rating between one and five to any favor asked. A character can ask for favors that add up to her Allies rating without penalty in one month. If she extends her influence beyond that, her player must roll Manipulation + Persuasion + Allies, with a penalty equal to the favor’s rating. If the roll is successful, the group does as requested. Whether the roll fails or succeeds, the character temporarily loses a dot of Allies. This dot may return after one month. One additional favor a character can ask of her Allies is to block another character’s Allies, Contacts, Retainer, or Status (if she knows the character possesses the relevant Merit). The rating is equal to the Merit dots blocked. As before, no roll is necessary unless the target’s Merit exceeds the character’s Allies. If the block succeeds, the blocked character cannot use the Merit during the same chapter. 'In Play' Allies with Influence Sphere Status must be acquired with a dice roll before they can be bought with XP. It is not necessary to specify the identity of an Ally as they represent a more nebulous sphere of Influence. Allies represent a number of people that your character can ask for favors in a given field at any given moment. Allies, besides performing favours up to their rating, can also be asked to lend a bonus up to their rating to dice rolls that they can reasonably assist in. As an example, a Five-dot Ally can perform a two-dot favor and a three-dot favor for free in one month. If the Five-dot Ally is then asked to perform a five-dot favor in the same month, your character must then roll Manipulation + Persuasion + 5 – 5. On a success, they perform the favor as requested. Your character temporarily loses a dot of Allies, which they may regain after one month. Allies require upkeep in Downtime, Resources, or Vitae. Using Vitae to maintain a large number of Allies is a Masquerade risk. When rolling your Manipulation + Persuasion + Allies, Vitae-controlled Allies take an additional penalty equal to their own rating. Contacts (•) Contacts provide your character with information. This Merit can be taken multiple times; each instance represents a sphere or organization with which the character can garner information. Using Contacts does not require a roll. One use of a Contact is to dig up dirt on another character. A Contact can find another character’s Social Merits and any relevant Conditions (Embarrassing Secret is a prime example), provided that they share Status in a given sphere or organisation. The information discovered must be reasonable and within the realms of possibility. Retainer (• to •••••) Your character has an assistant, sycophant, servant, or follower on whom she can rely. Establish who this companion is and how he was acquired. It may be as simple as a paycheck. He might owe your character his life. However it happened, your character has a hold on him. A Retainer is more reliable than a Mentor and more loyal than an Ally. On the other hand, a Retainer is a lone person, less capable and influential than the broader Merits. The Merit’s dot rating determines the relative competency of the Retainer. A one-dot Retainer is barely able to do anything of use, such as a pet that knows one useful trick or a homeless old man who does minor errands for food. A three-dot Retainer is a professional in his field, someone capable in his line of work. A five-dot Retainer is one of the best in his class. If he needs to make a roll within his field, double the Retainer dot rating and use it as a dice pool. For anything else use the dot rating as a dice pool. 'In Play' Retainers with Influence Sphere Status must be acquired with a dice roll before they can be bought with XP. Retainers will have a limited sheet, denoting some of their details as follows: A Retainer, when acting as a primary actor for a roll, rolls double their Retainer dots in their field of expertise. When contributing teamwork to a roll (not as the primary actor), a Retainer adds a bonus equal to their rating in their field of expertise, and half their rating for anything else. A Retainer has three Downtime slots to perform tasks, unless they have Good Time Management, then they have five Downtime slots. These Downtime slots are refreshed weekly. A Retainer with Status can be asked to perform tasks lower or equal to their rating. When performing a task equal to their rating, the Retainer uses up three Downtime. When performing a task one level lower than their rating, the Retainer uses up two Downtime. When performing a task two levels (or more) lower than their rating, the Retainer uses up one Downtime. Status (• to •••••) Your character has standing, membership, authority, control over, or respect from a group or organization. This may reflect official standing or informal respect. No matter the source, your character enjoys certain privileges within that structure. First, your character can apply her Status to any Social roll with those over which she has authority or sway. Second, she has access to group facilities, resources, and funding. Dependent on the group, this could be limited by red tape and requisitioning processes. It’s also dependent on the resources the particular group has available. Third, she has pull. If your character knows another character’s Resources, Retainer, Contacts, or Allies, she can block their usage. Once per chapter, she can stop a single Merit from being used if it’s of a lower dot rating than her Status and if it makes sense for her organization to obstruct that type of person’s behavior. In our Organized Crime example, if your character knows that the chief of police has Contacts (Criminal Informant), you may opt to block usage by threatening the informant into silence. 'In Play' You can perform tasks up to your level in Status as long as you have Downtime. A single task costs as much Downtime as their Rating. This represents you doing the extra legwork ''on top of your daily duties. Vampire characters can be barred from having high Status (Status 3 or above) in certain spheres if it is not reasonable for them to hold down a job in that sphere while being entirely nocturnal.